Demonlition

Tearing out the Wall

The past two months have been very busy around here. In April I demolished my laundry room and we are still working on putting it back together again. It is very exciting but so much work. This has taken up most of my spare time. A short way into the destruction process I decided to take some "before" pictures, thus the first pics have some evidence of chaos to them.

Looking into the bathroom/laundry room from the family room. When you go through the door there is a small hallway to the right that leads to the playroom. In order to use the bathroom you had to lock the door to the family room and hope no one was in the playroom because although there was a doorway into the laundry/bathroom, it was too small to have a door of its own. This is less than ideal.

Here is a picture of the hallway into the playroom. Why is there a hallway to a bedroom but no door on the bathroom to the left? Why? Who buys a house with a bathroom with no door? Functional Door into Playroom

The laundry and bathroom was very cramped. This itty-bitty pedistal sink was the only sink I am sure would fit in this space, and you couldn't open the dryer door all the way because it would hit the toilet. The chair in the picture was for demolition purposes. I was so excited to be knocking all this out that I didn't want to take the time to remove the chair for picture purposes.

Tear it All Out!

What a beautiful, beautiful site!!!

Here are the toothpick remains of the hallway wall. The pedistal sink is gone as well as the awkward cupboard in the back by the dryer. Just some plumbing and electrical to move.

Happy Birthday To Me

Well I am officially 31 now. It is 1:40 AM and I have been up working on stuff for church tomorrow, but I wanted to wish myself a Happy Birthday.


Perhaps I am a little slap happy at the moment, but this seems like a good place to insert the picture Ashton and I put on his birthday party invitations. We took the picture of him and then he modified it on the computer. We included the following phrase as though it was a word bubble coming out of his mouth.

YOU WILL COME TO MY PARTY!

Alien Tub Babies

Catherine heard about these funny tub pictures and specifically asked that I share them.

These were actually taken January 30, 2008, so about two weeks before the babies birthdays.

"What's everybody looking at?"

The babies like to play with their Dora the Explorer tub toys. Unfortunately for Boots, he is about to be eaten by the Kristen monster.

"Look mom, even my tongue is clean," says Kristen.

Kristen still enjoyed taking a bath back then. She is now going through an anti-bath phase we hope she outgrows soon.

"So do you like my hair," asks Loryn.

We discovered that before rinsing out the baby shampoo you can do all kinds of fun sculpting with baby-fine hair.

Hunter's Potty Training Miracle!!!

February 17, 2008 is a very significant day in our home. It is the day the switch turned on and Hunter went from being in diapers to being completely potty trained.

There were times I honestly thought I would be potty training the twins and Hunter at the same time. Miraculously after many failed attempts on my part, this Sunday afternoon Hunter decided to use the potty and has been using it ever since. Just like that, it was all over...done. No accidents. Dry at night. A miracle.

In case anyone thinks this was too easy, may I remind them that Hunter was already 3 1/2 and had shown zero interest in potty training to this point. I hadn't actively been doing any potty training for a while. I guess he just needed to decide for himself it was time, and have the confidence to do it.

As a reward for Hunter potty training we all went to

Chuck E. Cheese.

Hunter playing Ski-Ball while Loryn watches in awe.

Try throwing just a little harder Hunter.

Joy Riding

Kristen loved this little car, but Loryn wasn't so impressed.

Ashton, Kristen, and Allison--They really are having a good time.

"I don't think I like the features on this one," thinks Kristen while examining the Jeep ride.

Kristen wasn't so sure about the big moving Jeep. In fact she and Loryn freaked out when it started moving.

"Get me out of this thing," cries Loryn behind the wheel.

Birthday Marathon

This time of year is very birthday heavy for us. Four of the five kids have their birthdays within 3.5 weeks and Grandma's is right in the middle of those. Paula and I also have our birthdays at the end of March. In all...7 birthdays in a month and a half.

February 13-- the twins first birthday. THE BIG NUMERO UNO!!!

What is going on?

Kristen (in pink) and Loryn (in bib) looking unsure and confused while sitting on the counter with everyone watching.

February 24-- Mom turned 54 years old.

All in one breath grandma! No helping Hunter.

It took two whole cakes and a multitude of matches to do it right.

March 2--Ashton's big #8. We had a party for him with his friends on Saturday, as well as another party for family on his actual birthday. We are looking forward to his baptism in May when Dave's parents can come.

The Marshmallow Gun Posse

R-L: Cameron, Ashton, Ethan, Jacob, Zack, Cooper, Allison. Braden flashing the marshmallow gun in the back. We had a great time putting together our marshmallow guns and shooting them in the backyard. I found the instructions and plans online. They are made out of PVC and were really easy and inexpensive. I highly recommend them for a birthday party for crazy little boys.

March 8--Allison turned 6 this year. Allison also had a birthday party with her friends and another with my family.

Dora the Explorer Party Pals

R-L: Karina, Alysa, Ashlyn, Kendall, Allison, Ashton, Bronwyn, Kaitlyn, Hunter. Back: Loryn, Dave, Kristen.

It was a Dora party with a "map" that told us where to go on our treasure hunt. Ashton performed his magic ballon trick, candy, dancing, and finally a pinata pretty much sums it up.

Making Hunter Happy!

Poor Hunter! This time of year is really hard on the little guy who has to wait until the end of July for his birthday. At the family party I promised Hunter I would make a cake with his name on it. Here is Allison blowing out the candles of HER cake with Hunter's name on it.

The Joy of the Creamy

Ashton is such a sweet big brother to his little sisters. He willingly shared his creamy with them the other day. They were pretty happy to slobber all over it.

Ashton feeding Loryn a lick of his creamy while Kristen patiently waits her turn. The twins seem to take turns a lot better than other babies their age. I think it is because they have had to take turns all their life.
Kristen taking her licking the creamy.

The babies will be one year old on February 13th. I can't believe it has been a whole year since they were born. They are really starting to have some personality now.

Snow Fort

On Sunday my family came over for dinner. James came with the idea of making a snow fort since we have received so much snow. We had six inches that morning plus about 4-6 inches on the ground.

Playing in the Snow

Hunter getting James with a snowball. Never mind the shovel full of snow James has.

James seems to have the advantage!

Ashton couldn't run away fast enough to avoid the mother of all snowballs right on the back. Luckily he had several layers of snow clothes on. The kids had a great time playing with James, Paula, and Joy.

They spent a lot of time packing snow into the plastic garbage can James brought specifically for fort making. (Paula, James, Ashton, Joy, Allison)

Bombs Away!

Putting the fort to use.